I'll Walk
by SilverxXxWings
Summary: When Bella Swan is in a tragic accident on prom night, her boyfriend Edward Cullen can't help but blame himself for leaving her to walk home alone in the dark. Will she recover and can they have a happy ending? An inspirational, romantic, One-shot.


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Okay, before anyone shoots me I know that I PROMISED I would update "Breaking Dawn: The War" this passed weekend. But, before anyone flips out I was seriously ill for the past week and a half. I'm talking fever, sore throat, boxes of tissues, the works. So I'm very sorry, but I am going to try my hardest to get a chapter out this weekend. So if you're wondering why I am posting yet another One Shot instead of the chapter I promised, its because I've had this written for a while and never actually posted it. So, don't hate me, you will get your chapter!

About this one shot. It's based completely on the song "I'll Walk" by Bucky Covington. Amazing song, made me cry, yeah. lol! You should definately listen to it, before, after, or while reading this. Leave me some reviews and be sure to check out my website. I've added a few new features and have some things I need my readers to participate in (you'll see what I mean). The links in my profile so be sure to check it out!

Enjoy!

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**I'll Walk – A Twilight Fan Fiction**

I ran into the emergency room still donning the tuxedo that only hours ago I'd been twirling around the room with _her_ in. My black dress shoes squeaked as I rushed around the corner desperately seeking answers. I was never one to cry, but in that moment the tears streaming down my face were endless.

Why had I left her alone? What was I thinking? How could I have been so stupid? The same questions ran through my mind again and again, but still nothing made sense to me. I remembered her parting words perfectly. _Just let me go Edward, we can talk later. I love you. _Why had I listened to her? Why hadn't I fought against her wishes and driven her home like I should have? If I'd done that she would be safe in her bed right now. Not here, in this wretched hospital.

I thought about the fight we'd had. It seemed so stupid now. But at the time I'd let my anger get the better of me and was bound and determined to make her see things my way.

"_Bella, why are you getting so upset?" I'd asked her as she stormed from the high school gymnasium. It was prom night, and everything had been perfect, until Bella had seen me dancing with an old friend of mine. Tanya had kissed me, Bella took it the wrong way and then walked out. _

"_You kissed her Edward! What isn't there to be upset about?" she screeched, tears streaming down her angel face._

_My heart clenched at the sight of the tiny droplets of water falling from her eyes. Bella and I had been together since freshmen year and I'd always done everything in my power to make her happy. We'd never fought before, so to see her standing there crying on what was supposed to be the best night of our senior year broke my heart. _

"_That was all Tanya, Bella. It was just a misunderstanding. She's in town visiting Alice and –" _

"_I just want to go home Edward." She muttered opening the door to my silver Volvo and getting in. I sighed rolling my eyes and got in the car. Everything was silent and the tension between the two of us was thick enough to cut with a knife. This wasn't right. I was in love with Bella and we should be enjoying ourselves, not sitting in a stony silence. I reached over trying to take her hand and she pulled it away turning to face the window. It was at that point that I let my anger get the better of me. _

"_Would you stop being so absurd Bella?" I groaned rolling my eyes. It managed to get her attention, but not in the way I'd been hoping for. She whipped around to face me, anger evident in her eyes and tears continuing to stream down her face. _

"_Do you mean to tell me that if you saw me kissing someone like, I don't know let's say Mike Newton, you wouldn't be upset?" _

_I winced at her choice of example. Mike Newton and I were to put it plainly, mortal enemies. I let the low blow sink in and retaliated. _

"_You're being stupid Bella." _

_Her eyes widened and I immediately regretted my choice of words. _Never_ in the four years we'd been together had I ever once said something like that to her. Bella was the love of my life as far as I was concerned and I would never disrespect her in such a way. But the words had just sort of came out before I could stop them. Still, for her not to realize that I could never kiss or even _look _at anyone else when I was so head over heels in love with her did make her rather ridiculous. I'd just gotten caught up in the moment and let myself get carried away. _

"_Stop the car." _

"_What?" I asked disbelieving. _

"_I said stop the car. Now Edward!" she commanded. I obliged and pulled over to the side of the road. Before I knew what was happening, Bella was opening the door and getting out. I grabbed her hand and she fell back into the seat. _

"_Bella, please don't go." _

"_Edward you just don't understand how I'm feeling right now. I need some time to think." She said kissing my hand and standing back up. _

"_Bella please!" I begged her. She smiled at me through her tears. _

"_I'll be fine, I promise. Just let me go Edward, we can talk later. I love you," she said closing the door. I watched as she made her way down the street. When I couldn't see her anymore, I turned the Volvo around to head the other way – away from Bella – and began my drive home. _

"Edward?" my father's voice broke me from the memory.

"Dad, is she okay? Please, please tell me Bella's alright!" I begged almost dropping to my knees. My father, Carlisle was an ER doctor and I knew that he had taken Bella's case. He was the one who called, who gave me the terrible news that sent me flying to the hospital as fast as my car would take me.

_I had been lying on my bed thinking about what happened when the phone rang. I picked it up, not recognizing the number on the speed dial. _

"_Hello?" _

"_Edward? It's dad… I don't know how to say this but there's been an accident." He told me gravely. I shot up, causing my bed to creek eerily. _

"_What do you mean?" _

"_Its Bella son," he began. My heart picked up pace and the world around me slowed. "She was walking home and she was hit by a car. The driver never saw her because of her dress." _

_I gulped; I remembered thinking how beautiful she'd been in her dark blue dress. A dress so dark blue that in the pitch black nobody would have been able to see her. Not even a driver coming around the corner. The second thought that registered was; _this is my fault.

_And that was how I found myself racing to the hospital. Praying above all else that my angel would be okay. _

"I'm not going to sugar coat it for you Edward, because I know you can handle the truth. She was beat up pretty badly. It's not a pretty sight, and…" he trailed off as if he were scared to tell me the rest.

"What? What is it!?" I demanded, desperation seeping through my tone.

"She can't move her legs Edward. She may very well be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life. There's a small chance she will regain use of her legs, but right now we're focusing on her more prominent injuries."

That did it; I sank to my knees.

I held my head in my hands, saying her name again and again through my sobs. Bella might very well never walk again and it was all my fault. A million 'what-ifs' assaulted my mind. What if I'd made her stay in the car? What if I'd been more understanding? What if Tanya had never come to visit? If I hadn't let Bella go and talk to Angela alone, giving Tanya a chance to get near me? What if, what if, what if.

"God, Bella…oh, God, no. Damn it!" I shouted sobbing into my soaking wet hands. My father knelt down beside me and let me cry on his shoulder as if I were a child. I may as well have been, because of my immature decision my angel was paralyzed and God only knew what else. How could I face her again? Knowing full well that I was the cause of her pain? I'd inflicted so much pain on the person I'd claimed to love in one night that it was unbearable. I wouldn't hold it against her if she didn't even want to see me.

"Edward, you need to calm down son. Bella wants to see you, but I'm not sending you in there like this. She needs comfort son, not someone breaking down on her."

"Why would she want to see me?" I asked pulling away.

"She loves you Edward, you know that. The two of you were made for one another. You were the first one she asked for when she woke up."

Rather than calming me down, his words only made the tears come harder. How did I come to deserve someone as amazing as Bella? Even after I hurt her countless times, she still wanted me. She deserved better, so much better. I was insensitive, and irresponsible, and—

"Edward, are you going to be able to go in there?" Carlisle asked.

Yet, despite all of that I knew I couldn't stay away from her. I'd been addicted to Bella like a drug from day one, and nothing could change that. So I put my insecurities behind me as best I could and put a brave face on. I nodded to my father, signaling that I would be able to go in and he clapped me on the shoulder. We stood and he led me down the hall to Bella's room.

"Take as long as you need son."

"Thanks dad." I muttered. I took a deep breath with my hand on the door knob before I opened it. Nothing, nothing in the world, could have prepared me for what I saw.

My angel, my Bella, was lying on a starched white hospital bed. Her face and arms were covered in jagged cuts and purplish bruises; the worst of which was over her right eye. She was connected to so many tubes and monitors that it was hard to decipher which wires went where. One monitor over in the farthest corner of the room kept tempo with her steady heartbeat.

Her eyes were closed as she breathed in and out evenly. He soft brown hair – the same hair I'd run my fingers through countless times when we were together—was matted to her head with patches of dried blood. I didn't even want to imagine what she looked like beneath the hospital blanket if her leg injuries were as bad as Carlisle made them to be.

I could feel the tears starting down my face again. But barely noticed them, I was so numb inside. I had done this to her. Bella was here because of me. The thought repeated through my mind again and again. I tried to pull myself together for her benefit, but nothing could help me. I walked to the stiff chair beside her bed and let out one low sob.

"I'm so sorry Bella." I muttered taking her hand and placing my head on the side of her bed. Not a second had passed before I felt a familiar, soft hand run through my bronze hair.

"Mmm, Edward." She murmured as her eyes fluttered open. My head shot up and I met her gaze. Despite everything, Bella managed to smile weakly at me. Her eyes glittered despite the fact that her right one couldn't open completely.

"Bella," was all I could manage before the anguish took over.

"Shh, Edward everything's going to be okay." She assured me her voice barely above a whisper.

As backward as it was, she let me cry myself out, all the while brushing through my hair softly with her fingers. She told me again and again that everything would be fine, even though I could tell it hurt her voice to talk. I knew I should be the one comforting her, but I couldn't.

When I had no tears left to cry, I lifted my head and wiped my eyes. She met my gaze and smiled.

"Hey stranger," she said managing a small chuckle. She tried to move her head toward me and I knew what she wanted. I met her lips with mine briefly thanking whatever god was out there that I had gotten the chance to kiss her warm lips again. That she was alive was a miracle in itself. And I would forever be grateful.

"I'm so sorry Bella; I wish I could make this right." I sighed when I pulled away.

"Hey, this isn't your fault. I'm the idiot who got out of the car remember?" she said trying to turn it into a joke.

"Don't say that about yourself Bella. I never should have said it and I won't stand for you saying it about yourself. God there's so much I never should have done. So many mistakes I want to take back. I'm sorry Bella, I'm sorry I was such a jerk, I'm sorry you're in here I'm—"

"Edward, it was an accident. There's nothing we can do about it now. And I don't want to watch you blame yourself for something you can't change." She said looking up at me sadly.

"How can you do this Bella?" I muttered disbelieving, "How can you sit here without being the least bit afraid?"

"You don't think I'm just as scared as you are? Edward, I know what their saying about me; about my legs. I don't understand this anymore than you do but, I have to believe Edward. I have to believe that everything will be okay. So please Edward, please don't beat yourself up over this. I'm going to walk again, I know I will."

Her soft, determined, brown eyes met mine and filled me with an emotion I identified as hope. I loved Bella so much. Everything about her made my heart melt. To see before me, so broken yet so full of hope, made my heart soar to new heights. If Bella believed everything would be okay, I had no choice but follow by her example.

"Regardless, I am sorry Bella. You may not blame me, but I can't help but think that I had a part in this."

"We both did Edward, let's just both accept that we're equally at fault here and move on, okay? For me?"

I nodded and kissed her softly.

"Anything for you, love," I smiled. She managed a weak smile of her own as her eyes welled up with tears. I wiped them from her cheeks as soft as I could manage so as not to hurt her and muttered, "Don't cry Bella."

"Can I ask you for just one more thing? I want you to be with me, here by my side, through all of this. Will you sit here with me and just hold my hand? Please Edward?" she asked as if it were the biggest request in the world. Didn't she realize that I wouldn't even _think _of being anywhere other than by her side? She had to know that leaving her period, was an impossibility for me. There was no where I'd rather be than by her side, no matter what the circumstance.

"Of course Bella, I'm here as long as you'll have me."

"I was thinking something along the lines of forever." She smiled.

I laughed, "Sounds perfect."

"I love you, Edward."

"I love you too, Bella, so much." I said kissing her small hand as I held it in mine. Her eyes fluttered closed soon after that as she fell into a peaceful slumber. I on the other hand didn't sleep a wink that night, or most nights thereafter.

She may not blame me but it didn't stop me from blaming myself. Every time she moved her head and winced at the tender pain. Or when she would continually try to move her legs to no avail. She was broken and it was my fault. I had destroyed an angel.

Still, seeing her bright eyes over the next few weeks gave me faint hope. Maybe she would get through this. She had to. Bella was strong, as she'd proven to me the first night, she could do this. So against my better judgment I put my dark thoughts behind me and did as she asked. I held her hand and never once left her side.

_**Six months later…**_

It always came back to the tuxedo. Every big moment in my life, I seemed to be wearing one of those black suits. And today was the biggest moment of them all. So much had changed in six months. Everything had happened to lead up to this one defining moment, I just knew it.

I listened to the murmurs of the people surrounding me in the church. '_I can't believe it', 'how did this happen', _and even _'just look at Edward'_.

I did my best to tune them all out and focus on the task at hand. Today was about Bella and no one else. I wouldn't let any of them interfere with what she wanted. This was her day, her dream, and I would make it come true.

I could clearly remember the day that had led Bella and I to this moment.

_I had just arrived at the hospital to pick Bella up from physical therapy. She was making so much progress and everyone was immensely proud of her. She had promised that she would walk again and it finally seemed as though she may do just that. I smiled as I arrived outside her room and saw her happily chattering with a nurse through the window. _

_My Bella was beautiful, there was no doubting that. She had completely recovered from her accident, with the exception of her legs. The only other marks of the terrible tragedy left were the two tiny, crescent shaped scars on Bella's arm and wrist. Other than that it was as if nothing had ever happened. And although I would forever blame myself for what had happened to her, things did seem to be looking up. _

_I knocked softly and let myself into the room, met by Bella's warm smile. _

"_Hey Edward," she said. I bent down and kissed her lips, smiling as I pulled away. _

"_Hello sweetheart, how did everything go today?" _

"_Fantastic! Dr. Martin, can I show Edward what we accomplished today?" she said with a smug smile. _

"_I think that's a wonderful idea Bella." Dr. Martin laughed from across the room where she was scribbling away on Bella's charts. _

"_Great. Edward, I need you to go stand by the hospital bed, okay?" _

"_Anything for you, love," I said following her instructions. I stood by the bed in the center of the room and waited for Bella to show me what she was so excited about. _

_Never in a million years did I expect what happened next. _

_I watched in absolute awe, as Bella grasped the arms of her wheel chair. And I swear my jaw must have dropped as she shakily pulled herself up. I saw her begin to fall back into the chair and instinctively moved to catch her, but she held up a finger motioning for me to wait as she righted herself. She took a deep breath and stood, staying motionless in front of her chair. Honestly, I would have been overjoyed if that was as far as she made it; but, ever the shocker, Bella took things a step further, literally. _

_When she was sure she had her footing, Bella took a shaking step forward making her way over to me. With each step she took I could see the beginnings of a triumphant smile appear on her face. I was filled with pride as I watched my love cross the room. I opened my arms welcoming her in, and wrapped my arms tightly around her when she finally reached me. _

"_Bella, love, that was _amazing_." I breathed into her hair. I kissed the top of her head and tried to hold in the tears that were steadily streaming down my face. _

_Finally I had the proof I had been waiting for. The proof that my angel would be okay. Bella pulled away and smiled at me. _

"_I told you I'd walk again." _

_I laughed and pulled her close to me once more. _

"_Yes, yes you did Bella. And you were right, you were so right baby." I exclaimed kissing her again and again. It was in that moment that I knew what to do next. I had been walking around, prepared for this moment for over a month now. And it was time to take action. _

_I pulled away from Bella and sat her down on the bed, knowing that she couldn't push the whole walking thing just yet. When she was settled I looked into her eyes and began and speech I'd been waiting my whole life to say. _

"_Bella, I love you. You've been my life since the moment I met you, and I never want that to change. I don't want to live a day of my life without you with me. I need you, love, I've always needed you. I want to spend forever by your side. I want to wake up every morning knowing that you'll be there. I want to claim you as my own, forever." I dropped down to one knee. "Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?" I asked reaching into my pocket and pulling out an engagement ring. _

_Bella's eyes were filled with tears as she whispered a silent, _yes. _I felt my own eyes fill with moisture again as I slipped the ring on her delicate finger. My heart was soaring just knowing that I was going to spend the rest of my life with her. The sheer knowledge that Bella would soon be mine set my every emotion ablaze. _

_I couldn't help myself as I lifted Bella into my arms and spun her around the room. She laughed wildly as I set her back down and kissed her lips, with a passion I didn't even know I was capable of using. I stopped only when I hear sniffling from behind us. I turned and smiled to see Dr. Martin dabbing at her eyes and blushing. _

"_I'm sorry you two, but that was just too cute. Okay, I'll leave you two love birds be." She smiled patting my shoulder as she left the room. _

_When she was gone Bella and I burst into laughter. I looked down into the bright eyes of the woman I would soon call my wife and smiled. _

"_I cannot wait until the day you're Mrs. Cullen," I told her leaning my forehead against hers. _

"_Me either. I love you, Edward." She breathed, closing her beautiful, brown eyes. _

"_I love you too, Bella. So very much, and I always will." _

And now here we were, six months later, about to say 'I do'. I couldn't have been happier than I was in that moment.

When we'd first told people about our engagement we were told that we were too young to be married. Everyone said that we were rushing into things and that it would never last. But all that mattered to me was that Bella and I knew we were making the right decision. I knew that marrying her was the smartest thing I'd ever do, and as long as she felt the same about me, I was content.

Our families had been shocked at first as well, but as soon as they accepted that there was no changing our minds they became extremely enthusiastic about the whole idea. My younger sister Alice even begged Bella to let her plan the wedding. She was ecstatic when Bella agreed; claiming that she had no idea what she was doing anyway.

I smiled and chuckled quietly as I thought of the woman I would soon marry. The woman that, despite all I had put her through, loved me as much as I loved her. Bella, my Bella.

I was snapped from my revere as the wedding march began, loud and true. I looked up to the front of the church, eagerly awaiting Bella's entrance. I watching anxiously as Bella's friends Rosalie and Angela made their way down the aisle followed by my sister, the maid of honor. Then, my older brother Emmett clapped my shoulder with pride, as we both knew who was coming next.

I watched as Charlie, Bella's father, wheeled her wheel chair to the door. While Bella was beginning to regain control of her legs, she still couldn't go for long distances. Charlie was about to wheel her down the aisle when I saw her lean up and whisper something in his ear. He smiled, tears forming in his eyes and nodded.

Everyone turned to watch as Charlie helped Bella from her chair and helped her catch her balance. When she was steady on her feet she nodded to Charlie. The orchestra had stopped playing momentarily and I motioned for them to continue.

As the music picked back up, so did my heart. It was pounding and thundering away in my chest with each step my beautiful Bella took. I was so proud of her. She was, by far, the strongest person I'd ever met. She hadn't let the accident stop her, she fought her way through and I couldn't be happier. I had been with her every step of the way and, God willing, I would always be by her side. Today was only confirmation that we would spend the rest of our lives together.

Dr. Martin estimated that within a few months, and with some hard work, Bella could completely regain use of her legs. But even if she never walked again, I would never love her any less. Isabella Marie Swan was my everything and nothing could change that.

So as she made her way down the aisle, determination clear on her face despite the obvious pain she was feeling, I vowed that I would spend the rest of my days making her happy. Bella would be the most loved woman in the world, if I had anything to say about it. My smile increased in size, and tears fell down my face when Bella reached me at the altar. Charlie rested her hand in mine, and told me to take care of her. I promised him that I would and we continued on.

As Bella and I said the words that bound us together forever I suddenly understood how she had managed to remain positive through everything.

It was because Bella had believed in our love that she knew everything would work out in the end. She had the faith I had been too blind to see. But I would never lack in faith again.

Faith had allowed my Bella to stay with me. Faith had given my Bella a chance to walk again. Faith had blessed me to be able to spend the rest of my days with my angel.

Faith, was amazingly kind.


End file.
